There have been rumors and reports that the game narrowly missed its deadline for the November 2 release. Because of that, there is chatter that the game is being held up by Blu-ray production delays. In a tweet yesterday, GT5 designer Kazunori Yamauchi wrote the game still needed some finalizing.

Driving simulator Gran Turismo 5 was penciled in for a November 2 release. Good thing that was…
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There are also claims that the game has been delayed due to the recent PS3 hack. It was apparently was about to go to production, but needed to be updated so it ships with the latest firmware to ensure that the game is pirate-proof.

Well, that didn't take long. Sony has just pushed out a firmware update for the PlayStation 3, …
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"There are numerous reasons why we need a little more time, but I'm not going to go into them," a spokesperson from Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe told Kotaku. "What matters is that the delay will be a short one and the game will live up to expectations."

Ultimately, that is all that matters.

While Sony was initially unwilling to comment on whether the driving simulator will be out this year or early next, these recent comments, along with Yamauchi saying he wanted the title out by the year's end, do seem to indicate that Gran Turismo 5 will finally be out sooner, rather than later.